Steven Goldstein (born 1962) is an American civil rights activist.
Goldstein received his B.A. from Brandeis University, an M.P.P. (Master in Public Policy) from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and his J.D. from Columbia Law School.[1]
Goldstein was co-campaign manager for Jon Corzine for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 2000. He had previously worked for the U.S. Congress as press secretary to U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg,[2] and as a counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.[3]
He worked as a television producer as well, winning 10 regional Emmy Awards[4] before founding Garden State Equality in 2004.[3][5]
Goldstein served as CEO and chair of the group, New Jersey's statewide organization for LGBT equality, from 2004 until 2013, when he stepped down to take a post at Rutgers University–Newark.[3] Under his leadership, Garden State Equality advocated for the state to legalize gay marriage,[6] and when then-Governor Christie vetoed the marriage equality bill that both houses of the New Jersey Legislature passed, the organization filed the lawsuit, Garden State Equality v. Dow, that led to same-sex marriage in New Jersey.[7]
At Rutgers he served as Associate Chancellor for External Relations and associate professor at Rutgers Law School and in political science.[3][8] He taught courses on social justice advocacy, American politics and political communication.
He was played by Steve Carell in the 2015 movie Freeheld, based on the 2008 Academy Award-winning documentary of the same name, in which Goldstein himself appeared.[9]
Goldstein served as executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect in 2016-2017, during which time the organization, according to Liel Leibovitz in The Tablet, "one of the loudest voices in the #resistance to Trump."[10][11] However, Goldstein, a staunch Zionist, has also been critical of the Democratic Party, particularly the Squad, for not being supportive enough of Israel.[12] In an article for The Times of Israel, he criticized leaders in his own LGBTQ community for their opposition to Israel, which Goldstein said veered into anti-Semitism.[13] Goldstein describes himself as a "centrist liberal" rather than as "progressive."[14]
In 2017, Goldstein began rabbinical school at the Academy for Jewish Religion (AJR) in Yonkers, New York. In 2023-2024 he served as Education Director at Old York Road Temple-Beth Am in Philadephia,[15] where he studied for the year at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC). Upon returning to AJR, Goldstein cowrote an op-ed in the Forward critical of Anti-Zionism at RRC.[16]
In 2019, Goldstein's book, The Turn-On: How the Powerful Make Us Like Them - from Washington to Wall Street to Hollywood was published by Harper Collins.[17] Goldstein currently serves as Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in New Haven, Connecticut.[18]
References
edit- ^ "Steven Goldstein Named Associate Chancellor for External Relations". Rutgers-Newark Office of Communications. September 23, 2009.
- ^ Dao, James (15 June 1999). "Ex-Wall St. Leader Making Official Move Toward Senate Race". New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
- ^ a b c d Friedman, Matt (January 2, 2013). "N.J.'s most visible gay rights activist steps down, takes Rutgers-Newark job". NJ Advance Media for NJ.com.
- ^ "Gay Rights Leader from Teaneck to Head Anne Frank Center". Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect. June 10, 2017.
- ^ "Recognition of Steven Goldstein in the Congressional Record, Extension of Remarks by Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ)". United States Congress. January 22, 2013.
- ^ "Garden State Equality pledges to withhold donations after gay marriage vote". NJ.com. January 9, 2010.
- ^ Zernike, Kate; Santora, Marc (October 21, 2013). "As Gays Wed in New Jersey, Christie Ends Court Fight". New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
- ^ "A Pair of New Jersey Lawmakers Have Fought For Answers". New Jersey On-Line, quoting Steven Goldstein, Rutgers law professor. January 8, 2014.
- ^ "Steve Carell to play Teaneck's Steven Goldstein on the big screen". NorthJersey.com. August 28, 2014. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
- ^ Leibovitz, Liel (2017-04-20). "How Anne Frank Was Astro-Turfed". Tablet Magazine.
- ^ Nathan-Kazis, Josh (14 September 2017). "Anne Frank Center Chief Abruptly Steps Down — Led Strident Anti-Trump Push". The Forward. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- ^ Goldstein, Steven. "Steven Goldstein X post".
- ^ Goldstein, Steven. "LGBTQ Pride 2024: Confronting my community for complicity in antisemitism". The Times of Israel.
- ^ Goldstein, Steven. "Steven Goldstein X post".
- ^ "PHL17 Community Calendar".
- ^ "Anti-Zionism forced us to withdraw from Reconstructionist Rabbinical College". Forward.
- ^ Goldstein, Steven. "The Turn-On: How the Powerful Makes Us Like Them-from Washington to Wall Street to Hollywood". Harper Collins Publishers.
- ^ "Staff Directory, Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven".